CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Black & Hispanic parents to get $25 gift cards when picking up report cards - White parents need not apply....

Is the lure of a $25 gift card enough to persuade a parent who’s not involved in their child’s education to get involved? Seventy Chicago Public Schools in minority neighborhoods that have struggled to engage parents are about to find out.

At Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s request, Walgreen Co. has agreed to provide $25 gift cards to parents who pick up their students’ report cards and participate in parent-teacher conferences during report card pickup days.

“This is a way, in my view, of incentivizing responsible parenting,” Emanuel told a news conference at Field Elementary School, 7019 N. Ashland.

“If you don’t come to parent-teacher conference, if you don’t come to pick up a report card, our kids are smart. Then, they know there’s a gap between a parent and a teacher, a gap between the parent and the principal. We need to close those gaps and have a united front investing in our kids’ education.”

Emanuel said he got the gift card idea during one of his morning workouts.